murder

The Supreme Court of the United States says a Michigan man convicted of murder and armed robbery does not deserve a
new trial even though his lawyer was absent for 10 minutes during the original trial.

A convicted murderer who didn’t receive a requested jury instruction on the presumption of innocence lost his appeal
Wednesday, but the Indiana Supreme Court used the case to impart an exact instruction trial courts must use going forward
upon request.

The Supreme Court of the United States won’t hear an appeal from two former Louisiana inmates who were wrongly convicted
of murder and wanted to sue prosecutors for damages after spending 28 years in prison.

A man who killed no one but who’s been in prison for almost 40 years for a felony murder conviction was entitled to
a more thorough parole board review than one based on a 13-year-old psychological evaluation, a Court of Appeals judge wrote
Friday.

An Indiana statute and a 16-year-old Indiana Supreme Court decision interpreting that statute are under review as three teenagers
serving 45-year sentences asked the justices to overturn their convictions for felony murder.

A Vanderburgh County man convicted of the murders of his girlfriend’s eight- and five-year-old children after setting
fire to hishome in 2010 will remain on death row. The Indiana Supreme Court declined to reverse his convictions or revise
his sentence.

An Evansville man sentenced to death for the 2001 murders of his wife and two daughters is not entitled to habeas relief on
his claim of intellectual disability, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. But his petition should be granted because
the state courts unreasonably applied federal due process standards in adjudicating his competency to stand trial.

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a guilty but mentally ill verdict against an Indianapolis woman who killed the pastor
at her church because she believed he was part of a cartel that was pitted against her. The judges held Lori Ann Barcroft’s
due process rights were violated when the judge entered that verdict.

A man charged Thursday with murder and arson in a deadly Indianapolis house explosion was offered $5,000 to burn down the
home two weeks before it was leveled by a natural gas blast, court documents allege.

One of three people charged in a deadly Indianapolis house explosion has reached a plea agreement, prosecutors said Friday
— something an outside defense attorney said could mean a stronger case against the other two.

Indiana law experts say the mental health of a northwestern Indiana man charged with strangling two women and suspected of
killing five others could complicate the case but shouldn't prevent the state from seeking the death penalty.

An Ohio woman charged with murder and other crimes in Ripley County prevailed in the Indiana Court of Appeals Monday when
the judges affirmed the grant of her motion to suppress incriminating statements she gave to police.

In a case of first impression, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the 55-year sentence imposed on a juvenile waived into
adult court for the murder of a friend. The teen claimed he should have been sentenced under the alternative sentencing scheme
available for juveniles.